


What Could Have Been

by Athar Riordan (Atharian)



Category: Primeval
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Lost Love, Nick knows about Stephen's affair with Helen, Pre-Season/Series 01, Sibling Bonding, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:43:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23804818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atharian/pseuds/Athar%20Riordan
Summary: Vignette. While helping Stephen to find an errant essay as part of a pile he's helping to mark for Cutter; his sister, Charley, uncovers a photo of Stephen and a young woman in a drawer. With the photo comes a conversation about a lost love and what might have been.
Relationships: Helen Cutter/Stephen Hart (mentioned), Stephen Hart & Nick Cutter, Stephen Hart & Original Female Character(s), Stephen Hart/Original Female Character(s)





	What Could Have Been

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set pre-series and is AU. Stephen has told Nick about his affair with Helen six months before this vignette takes place, and the two are - in the background of this fic - rebuilding their friendship.

"Who was she?" Charley asked, as she showed Stephen the picture she had just uncovered in her search for an essay that had been misplaced.

Stephen took the photograph and swallowed. Cassie Reynolds smiled back at him; her black hair tied back in a ponytail, while her blue eyes seemed alight with humor as she and the younger Stephen in the photo laughed at something beyond the view of the camera.

"Someone I cared about.." Stephen murmured, as his blue eyes took in the younger woman's face. "Someone I cared about a lot." 

Charley watched him from her place sitting crossed legged on the floor, neat stacks of paper around her. Stephen had just returned from getting a drink when he found his younger sibling's attention captured by a photo in a frame he vaguely remembered buying. With the photo still in hand, Stephen slowly came to his knees - his eyes not leaving the picture - as he slowly shifted his position to mirror Charley's pose.

  
"What happened?" Charley asked, her voice softer than before as the pair sat with their knees touching; the picture now resting in Stephen's lap. He seemed lost in memory.

"I left her," he answered softly. "I was stupid and I left her."

"Why?"

"Because of Helen." 

Charley's shifting stopped at her brother's soft admission. It had been six months since Stephen had told Cutter about the brief affair he had with the professor's wife, and the pair were piecing their friendship back together again. But Charley hadn't realized that Cutter wasn't the only casualty of Helen and Stephen's own mistake.

"Cassie and I had been together since the end of second year, though we'd been friends for longer." Stephen added, as he motioned for the youngster to move around so that they were sitting side-by-side. " She was a combined honours humanities student but we shared some of the same friends."

Charley shuffled around so that she could sit with her back resting against Stephen's sofa, as she listened without comment. It was one of the first things he'd noticed about the youngster since they'd met, as well as her quiet nature; even though she had come out of her shell over the past couple of years, she was still quieter than her age mates. She could be sitting in the office he and Cutter shared reading a book as the two men discussed one topic or another - all her attention fixed on whatever adventure lay within, - and still surprise the pair by asking them a question about something she'd heard them talk about but didn't understand. Stephen found the quirk amusing for the most part, while Cutter (who wasn't known for being good with anyone under the age of eighteen because he didn't have the patience to answer questions from excitable school children) had found himself warming up to the youngster.

"Even after we'd both graduated, things had been going great. I'd chosen to stay on to complete my MA, and she'd decided to join the civil service. We'd started talking about maybe moving in together; finding a flat and... well, you can probably guess."

"Did you want to marry her?" Charley asked, as she drew her eyes away from the photo to Stephen's face that was lost in memory. Stephen blinked, before turning his eyes to the teen's curious expression.

"We hadn't talked about it," Stephen answered. "But... But yeah... I think maybe I did."

"Until Helen." 

Stephen swallowed. "Until Helen."

Charley moved to rest her head against Stephen's arm. The thirteen year old had been around for the fallout of Stephen telling Nick about his affair with Helen, if you could call it that. Helen had abused her position - Cutter had told Stephen that himself after coming around to speak to the younger man after taking some to cool off after his confession. But that didn't appease Stephen's own guilt for his part in the affair; he had been making it up to Cutter in the six months since.

"Did she find about about you and Helen?"

"No," Stephen replied strongly, causing the teenager to startle slightly. Stephen offered a silent apology as he took in a steadying breath. "No, she didn't - but maybe it would have been easier if she had found out."

"Why?"

"Have you ever heard of Murphy's Law?" Stephen asked.

Charley frowned. "Isn't that a saying? _Anything that can go wrong_ -"

" _Will go wrong_ \- yeah, that one." Stephen nodded. He drew his eyes back to the photo in his lap as he continued. "Everything came to a head all at once. Helen was... pulling my strings - and Cassie had just received news that her dad had been injured while on a military tour in Kosovo and was due to be flown home."

Stephen closed his eyes for a moment. "We were both stressed, but it's not an excuse. I should have been there to support her when she got the call about her dad - instead I was with Helen."

"Was Cassie's dad okay?"

Stephen nodded and gave a ' _uh hmm_ '. "Yeah - he recovered, but he was forced to retire from active service because of his injuries." He gave a sigh. "Cassie and I had a massive row, in the end. I couldn't tell you what it was about now - but we both said things we regretted afterwards. Short time after that, Helen disappeared and Cassie and I just - lost touch I guess."

Charley, whose hand had been resting on Stephen's arm, gave Stephen's arm a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry."

"It was a long time ago, Charley. I'm alright." Stephen offered her a ghost of a smile. 

"Helen sounds like she made it her job to make everyone's lives miserable." 

"She played with people." Stephen sighed. "Then dropped them so that they were left to pick up the pieces of the fallout."

Charley gave a small quirk of her lips. "Are they Cutter's words?"

"No actually, they're Matt's. " Stephen mused, referring to his sister's guardian, Matt Anderson, who had become a friend to Stephen due to their mutual relation in Charley.

"He can be wise when he wants to be," Charley nodded, thinking of the younger version of their biological father (not that Stephen was aware of the fact).

"Cheeky," Stephen commented, with a slight bumping of his arm against her playfully.

"Truth." Charley replied innocently, as she let out a small laugh while scrambling away from Stephen's long arm that had been extending to undoubtedly tickle her ribs.  
Stephen chuckled, as he turned his eyes back to the photo in his lap momentarily.

_I'm sorry, Cass_. Stephen thought, as he brushed a finger across a pale complexion highlighted by rosy tinges, before taking the picture in hand and picking himself up off the floor to reach stretch his six foot frame out as Charley gave out a triumphant 'Yes' as she reached underneath a small cabinet.

"I found the essay," Charley smiled, waving the papers around slightly.

"Thanks - just put it on the pile. I'll take a look after we eat." Stephen smirked, as he noticed the time, and moved to pick up his mobile to order pizza for them both.

"Hey Stephen?" Charley called, from her place by the coffee table.

"Hmm?" Stephen looked up from his contacts.

"I'm sorry about you and Cassie." she nodded to the photo still in Stephen's hand. "You sounded like you were both really happy."

Stephen gave the teenager a small smile that fell slightly as he lifted the photo up. They had been happy, Stephen mused; _before I ruined it_.

"Are you going to put the picture in another drawer?"

Stephen shook his head. "No," he answered, before turning to the teenager and holding out the photograph. "How about you find somewhere for this that isn't another drawer, and I'll order pizza."

"Cool," the thirteen year old grinned, as she retook the photo from him and began her search for the perfect place for the photo. 


End file.
